I Wish I Were Going Back to School

It’s “Back to School” time for college students and I wish I were going with them.

Kinda.

If it was 1986 I would totally be down with going back to architecture school.

That’s me in the middle … dummy #2 (no offense to dummy #1 and #3 who had no idea that this picture would get used over and over again). This is the only picture of myself in studio that I can find – which is pretty amazing considering I was in architecture school for 6 years and probably spent a minimum of 30,240 hours in studio (not including the time I spent sleeping under my desk). There weren’t digital cameras or smartphones when I was in school … if you wanted a picture, you had to load film into a camera and then take it somewhere for processing. Can you even imagine?!?

I’m pretty sure that I loved the time I spent in studio. There was always something cool going on and the rooms were constantly buzzing with people who had coffee breath and ate way too many peanut butter (on white bread) sandwiches. Everybody worked up at school – a function born out of needing giant drafting tables to work upon. These days it seems as if most of the people I talk to do a majority of their work on their laptops back in their apartments.

I would hate that … my apartment in college was depressing. I barely had any furniture – a futon and a side table made up of construction samples (which was a welded steel rod window used in the gorilla habitat at the Dallas Zoo). Working from my apartment would not have been very pleasant, AND I would miss out on the greatest aspect of studio – which was seeing what other people were working on and then talking about it with them endlessly. Considering that I think your ability to articulate your design intentions and communicate your process to others is one of the most important skills you can develop while in school, spending time talking about projects to my fellow students proved to be time very well utilized.

I have written a ton of articles about architecture school … some of which are pretty good. I can tell you with 100% certainty that you will find something of value in here – I’ve already done the writing it down, all you have to do it read it.

I originally wrote this article back in 2010 when everything I had to say on any matter was new and fresh. I thought about picking out the most important of the ten things you should know and including it here are as a teaser for the pearls of wisdom you will be rewarded with if you read this article … except all ten are important and all of them will drastically improve your time in architecture school.

Why Should You Read This?

Because the items on this list could actually help you get better grades – particularly #10 and #2.

When I started blocking out my mental notes for this post, the only parameters I used were: “What would I tell myself when I was a freshman in architecture school?” A fair amount of students (I would hope) will discover these tips through trial and error over time. I won’t lie when I say the people who might benefit from a list like this the most, probably won’t read it. Architectural juries are tough and this article will explain how to get present your project with success

Why Should You Read This?

This is all the things that I wish I knew about architecture school – and I few I didn’t figure out until later. For the nuggets of wisdom I left off in the ‘Design Studio: Top 10 Things You Should Know’, I came back a few years later and added them into this updated and expanded article. There are too many things to write down in a single article, and since the knowledge of what to do when you get pulled over by the cops and you have an open beer inside your pants leg doesn’t seem relevant, this is a solid continuation of tips from my time in architecture school.

Survival and Architecture school seem to be a theme with me – don’t read too much into that. The “Architectural School Jury” is a process that exists in architecture schools the world over – it’s where the victim student will pin their work up on the wall, and then try to explain what their project is trying to accomplish. It’s a stressful process but yields many positive experiences if treated correctly.

Why Should You Read This?

I can admit now that I didn’t really see the architectural jury process for what it truly was until I came back to college as a guest juror. Most of what I was concerned with was not ruining my grade while trying to limit how often I embarrassed myself. I think my experience in college would have been different and a bit more fruitful had someone explained the real purpose of the jury process.

When the day came and I showed up at college, I was surrounded by a bunch of hard-working, type A personalities. My pattern of “working the system” wasn’t working for me and I had a horrible go at things. I looked around at what I was doing compared to everyone else and I was terrible …. talk about an identity crisis.Can you imagine always knowing what you were supposed to do and then learning that you couldn’t actually do it?As it turns, out, a lot of you can imagine this.

Why Should You Read This?

Making the decision to be an architect is hard but making the decision to not be an architect might be even harder.

What is it like to be an architect? Architecture in the real world is a lot different from what people think. Does school prepare you for being an architect?

Why Should You Read This?

The reality of being an architect is that a vast majority of the time spent – for a vast majority of the people who practice architecture involve doing something that doesn’t even come close to resembling design – but – since I am an upbeat and positive guy, I like to think attitude plays a role in whether or not you view this as misery or something else altogether. Not everything – or any job other than “Lottery Winner” – is awesome all the time. Something as simple as your attitude towards things goes a long way to how you approach your business.

Projects in architectural school tend to be somewhat outrageous – designing something to exist on the dark side of the moon isn’t all that unlikely. But what is the point of designing these incredibly odd and silly projects?

Why Should You Read This?

Maybe because you get to see one of my projects from architecture school? Something that I vowed would never, ever happen when I started writing ‘Life of an Architect‘ 6 years ago?!? That alone is worth it (my drawings are done by hand – the horror!) but I talk about why your projects tend to be extraordinary in their scope and how that should have an impact on how you go about solving your design problems.

There are some words of advice that have stuck with me over the years – some were specific to being an architect, and some were generic to being a decent human being. Since I like to think both of those descriptors apply to me, I started to jot down all the pieces of advice I’ve read or received over the years that have stuck with me.

Why Should You Read This?

Other than the fact that you should want to be a regular person? These are 43 bumper sticker worthy pieces of advice that have helped me sleep like a baby … I wake up crying twice a night.

People go to college to learn how to learn so in those moments of self-doubt, just show up, work hard, and relax. Everything is going to be okay.

Why Should You Read This?

Architecture School can be a lonely place at times despite being surround by your friends and colleagues. I know from personal experience that at times, it is easy to question your drive, dedication, talent, or ability. Maybe you shouldn’t be in architecture school … you don’t have what it takes. You spend a million hours in design studio learning new skills and techniques – always looking for that great idea, something that will help guide you through your design problem and leave you feeling good about the end result … and it doesn’t ever come. But that doesn’t mean you should give up. You have to realize why you went to school in the first place.

So there you go – 8 articles that will change your life if you’re going back to school – a pretty solid day’s work if you ask me. It will take slightly less time for you to read them all, but if you do manage to make it through them all and you find that you are hungry for more, this was the 21st post in a series of posts called “ArchiTalks”. The idea is that I provide a word or concept to a group of architects and let them interpret it however they want, and we’ve all agreed to publish our responses on the same day. If you would like to see how other architects responded to today’s theme of “Back to School”, just follow the links below.

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My “Serious” Disclaimer

The complimentary advice provided on ‘Life of an Architect’ is based on an abbreviated examination of the minimal facts given, not the typical extensive (and sometimes exhaustive) analysis I conduct when working with my clients. Therefore, anything you read on this site is not a substitute for actually working with me. Following my casual advice is at your own peril … if you want my undivided attention, I would recommend hiring me. Cheers.